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Doctor Grimaldi, during the press conference of the Inter-hospital Committee, January 14, 2020. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP

After several months of crisis, doctors and department heads of French public hospitals are leading a new kind of mobilization. On Tuesday January 14, more than 1,200 of them resigned from their administrative functions to alert the government to the hospital crisis.

" Waste ", " nightmare ", " crisis " ... One by one, the doctors and heads of departments of public hospitals throughout France denounced the deterioration of working conditions in French public hospitals. This Tuesday, January 14, they had different words, but only one message to convey: the public hospital is in crisis and they expect a strong response from the government to get out.

To alert the Ministry of Health, more than 1,200 doctors and heads of hospital departments have resigned from their administrative functions . Or between 10 and 15% of the national workforce, according to the count of the Inter-Hospital Committee (CIH). " A decision that was difficult to make, " says Stéphane Dauger, head of the pediatric resuscitation and continuous surveillance department at Robert Debré hospital, who hopes to " send a strong message to the government " . " After 10 years of shock treatment, there is a 14 % increase in activity in public hospitals, but only a 2 % increase in staff, " he explains.

" A cry of alarm "

They are 44 in Rennes, 19 in Limoges, twenty at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris or even fifty in Marseille… The movement is national. This gesture is “ a cry of alarm from the heads of departments ”, according to Mr. Dauger, which illustrates the degree of concern of these professionals regarding the situation of French hospitals.

For the CHSF (Sud Francilien) support for resigners with a throw of smocks pic.twitter.com/tmAo6DEeSa

INTER-HOPITAUX COLLECTIF (@CollectInterHop) January 14, 2020

This statement comes after several months of mobilization led by the emergency services and two national demonstrations of hospital staff. But faced with the decisions taken in recent years, medical professionals regret that their activity is no longer " correlated to the quality of care ", but rather to " pricing ".

We look at the number of patients who return and if they do not stay too long so that their passage costs too much money… This is the logic in place for ten years. Today, we are at the end of the system and therefore we no longer play, we no longer argue with the administration of all this, ”says Olivier Milleron, cardiologist at Bichat Hospital and member of the CIH.

Continue care

However, there is no question for them to stop welcoming and caring for the French. " We don't want to take our patients hostage, " says Dr. Dauger. The administrative resignation consists in " refusing to discuss with the administration all that concerns the activity, the organization and the finance " of the hospitals, explains the cardiologist.

" The goal is to put sand in the gears, " says Stéphane Dauger to RFI. Indeed, the resigning department head will no longer manage the planning, leave, absences or meetings with the administration. " These meetings have only one objective, it is to earn a few hundred thousand euros every year while the quality of care is deteriorating at a major speed in all specialties and throughout the territory ", he denounces.

Today, doctors and heads of service assure that they will resign over the long term, but are ready to resume work quickly if a dialogue with the ministry begins. " It seems to us unimaginable that there is no response from Agnes Buzyn, " says Stéphane Dauger. " The resignation can only be suspended if the minister first receives the resigners, which she does ", adds Andre Grimaldi, doctor and professor at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, before adding that she has already sent several letters to the department to arrange a meeting.

Support rally for resigning doctors and department heads, January 14, 2020, in Paris. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP

Towards a new event?

Last November, the executive announced a plan to support the public hospital . Among other things, the recovery of 10 billion euros of debt of public hospitals on the accounts of the State and an annual premium of 800 euros for nurses and nursing assistants in the Paris region the lowest paid had been put in place .

Insufficient measures, according to Dr. Grimaldi, who believes that we must end this policy which has lasted for a decade. You start with austerity, it becomes austerity, then austerity becomes a shortage and now there are vacancies, but there is no one to hire. There are at least 400 nursing positions on the public service which are not filled, ”he claims.

For its part, to meet the needs of hospitals, the CIH demands, among other things, a revaluation of wages up to 300 euros net per month for non-medical staff and doctors of precarious status as well as additional hirings. On the other hand, health professionals want an Ondam 2020 (national health insurance spending target) " not imposing new savings on hospitals " through an investment of 600 million euros in addition to that announced in the government's hospital plan. They also hope to obtain a renovation of the governance of hospitals and wish to prepare a Grenelle of the public hospital.

The members of the inter-hospital committee are to meet on January 26 to discuss the follow-up to the movement. A new day of strike or demonstration could therefore be envisaged if no dialogue is successful.

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